A delegation representing the Mehsud tribe called on Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Tuesday to demand the arrest of culprits responsible for the murder of Naqeebullah Mehsud, DawnNews reported. The problems faced by tribes in Waziristan also came under discussion.

Protests against the extrajudicial killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud, a South Waziristan resident who was among four killed in what was later found to be staged encounter led by then SSP Malir Rao Anwar, began from Karachi and subsequently culminated into a movement for rights of people of Fata after the authorities were unable to apprehend Anwar.

The premier assured the tribal elders that the matter of Naqeebullah’s murder was not just a provincial matter but it fell under the ambit of state. “All available resources will be used to arrest the killers of Naqeebullah,” Abbasi said.

The federal government will open a college in Waziristan in the name of Naqeebullah, he announced.

The premier lauded the support and sacrifices rendered by tribal people in the ongoing war against terrorism and said that all out efforts will be made to swiftly rehabilitate the internally displaced tribals.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people from the tribal areas have gathered in Islamabad, demanding the arrest of suspended SP Rao Anwar who has been accused of killing 27-year-old aspiring model Naqeebullah Mehsud in a staged 'encounter' in Karachi.

Demands by Islamabad protesters:

• Arrests of former SSP Malir Rao Anwar and other police officers involved in Naqeebullah's murder
• Removal of landmines from Fata
• Recovery of missing persons and their production to courts
• End to practice of imposing curfews in Fata after any untoward incident

The protesters had gathered in front of the National Press Club in the capital to demonstrate against the killing. A large banner displayed on a stage set up at the site read, "Justice for Naqeeb Mehsud".

The death of Naqeebullah Mehsud was an extrajudicial killing, the Additional Inspector General of the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), Dr Sanaullah Abbasi, had told the victim's grieving friends, family and tribesmen gathered on the outskirts of Karachi last month.

Abbasi, who headed a three-member team investigating Naqeebullah's killing in an 'exchange of fire', assured his kin that Naqeebullah had never been involved in terrorism-related activities as alleged earlier, but had been innocent and was in fact killed in a 'fake encounter'.

Sindh Home Minister Sohail Anwar Siyal and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had taken notice of Mehsud's death following uproar on social media over the alleged staged encounter.

The investigation report led to IG Sindh A. D. Khowaja removing former SSP Malir Anwar from his post on January 20. Anwar is currently in hiding and the Supreme Court, which has taken a suo motu notice of the incident, has given police 10 days to arrest him.